Education:

D.Phil. Virology and Immunology, University of Oxford, 2004
M.Sc. Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, National Taiwan University, 1999
B.Sc. Zoology and Biochemistry, National Taiwan University, 1994

Research Interests:

My research interests are chiefly related to immunology, virology, vaccinology, epidemiology, and preventive and social medicine. My group has been studying host cell and immune responses to various infections or immunizations. These include dengue virus, West Nile virus, vaccinia virus, influenza vaccine, and malaria parasites, and regard the functions and differentiation of different types of immune cells, such as monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells and B and T lymphocytes, both in humans and in animal models. In addition, my group has recently established a large community-based cohort to study various aspects of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and certain sexually transmitted infections among HIV-positive men in Maryland. As such, the research in my group is interdisciplinary, which cuts across basic, translational and epidemiological studies on several important infectious diseases.

Selected Publications (Total: 12, citations: 677, Corresponding author publications: 4):

• Chen, Yun-Chi*, Thio CL, Kamangar F, Cox AL, Wiberg KJ. Evolving trends in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibody positivity among HIV-infected men in a community-based primary care setting. Journal of Viral Hepatitis. 2020. 27(11):1202-1213. doi: 10.1111/jvh.13354. (*: Corresponding author)
• Chen, Yun-Chi*, Thio CL, Cox AL, Ruhs S, Kamangar F, Wiberg KJ. Trends in hepatitis C treatment initiation among HIV/hepatitis C virus-coinfected men engaged in primary care in a multisite community health centre in Maryland: a retrospective cohort study. BMJ Open. 2019;9(3):e027411. (* Correspondiong Author) https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/3/e027411.
• Chen, Yun-Chi*, Wiberg KJ, Hsieh YH, Bansal A, Bolzan P, Guy JA, Maina EN, Cox AL, Thio CL. Editor's Choice: Favorable socioeconomic status and recreational polydrug use are linked with sexual hepatitis C virus transmission among human immunodeficiency virus-infected men who have sex with men. Open Forum Infectious Diseases 2016. 3:ofw137. (Editor's Choice; *: Corresponding author).
• Chen, Yun-Chi*. Engineering your own superbug: a useful assignment to evaluate real learning comprehension in microbiology classes. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. 2013. 14(2):265-266. (*: Corresponding author).
• Chen, Yun-Chi, Zavala F. Development and use of TCR transgenic mice for malaria immunology research. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2013. 923:481-491. 
• Cockburn IA, Tse SW, Radtke AJ, Srinivasan P, Chen, Yun-Chi, Sinnis P, Zavala F. Dendritic cells and hepatocytes use distinct pathways to process protective antigen from plasmodium in vivo. PLoS Pathogens. 2011. 7(3):e1001318. 
• Overstreet MG, Chen, Yun-Chi, Cockburn IA, Tse SW, Zavala F. CD4+ T cells modulate expansion and survival but not functional properties of effector and memory CD8+ T cells induced by malaria sporozoites. PLoS One. 2011. 6(1):e15948.

Mehravaran S, Abdelgawad HA, Chen, Yun-Chi*. Disparities in COVID-19 outcomes for African Americans: more studies are warranted. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2021 May 26:ciab498 doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab498. (*Corresponding author)